SpaceX is scheduled to launch on Tuesday the U.S. Air Force's third GPS III satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Lockheed Martin has finished encapsulation of the first GPS III satellite the company has built for the U.S. Air Force as part of pre-launch preparations at a facility in Titusville, Fla. GPS III Space Vehicle 01 is scheduled to lift off Dec. 18 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Lockheed said Tuesday. The satellite, […] More
Lockheed Martin has wrapped up integration work on the third GPS III satellite the company built for the U.S. Air Force through its processing facility in Denver, Colorado. Lockheed technicians finished the integration of the propulsion core, navigation payload, system module and other major components into the GPS III Space Vehicle 03 on Aug. 14 […] More
Harris has built a digital mission data unit for potential integration into the navigation payload of the U.S. Air Force‘s 11th and succeeding GPS III satellites. The company said Wednesday its MDU technology is designed to increase signal strength and flexibility of the GPS III Space Vehicle 11+ compared with the Harris-made payload on current GPS III satellites built […] More
United Launch Alliance has submitted a bid to compete on a contract to launch the U.S. Air Force’s third GPS III satellite in 2019 and reiterated its concern about price as a deciding factor in contract competition, Florida Today reported Tuesday. “As recent launch failures have shown, rockets are not commodities,†the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture […] More
Lockheed Martin has put its first satellite for the U.S. Air Force GPS III program through a thermal vacuum test in order to determine if the satellite could withstand simulated harsh space conditions. The simulation took place Dec. 23 and exposed an assembled GPS III system to prolonged extreme temeprature cycles inside a depressurized chamber, Lockheed […] More
Raytheon has finished three initial readiness exercises on a component of the GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System that works to support the launch of GPS III satellites. Raytheon said Thursday it sought to evaluate the capability of Raytheon-built Launch and Checkout System to manage operations such as space anomalies that satellites might encounter, transfer orbit configurations and contacts […] More
Boeing and Lockheed Martin‘s joint venture United Launch Alliance has decided to opt out of a competition to provide satellite launch support services to the U.S. Air Force, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Doug Cameron writes that bids for the military branch’s GPS III launch services contract were due Monday. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said the company’s […] More
Space Exploration Technologies could submit a bid to the U.S. Air Force in pursuit of an upcoming contract to support a planned 2018 launch of a Global Positioning System III military satellite, DoD Buzz reported Friday. Brendan McGarry writes the Air Force will gather proposals for GPS III satellite launch services under its Evolved Expendable […] More
A U.S. Air Force official has said the June 28 explosion of SpaceX’s rocket for transportation to the International Space Station will not affect SpaceX’s certification for military satellite launches, DoD Buzz reported Monday. “The Falcon 9 Launch System remains certified and has demonstrated 18 successful missions, three of which met the requirements of the certification […] More
The U.S. Air Force has approved SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket, clearing the way for the company to pursue military launch service contracts. The military branch said Tuesday it spent more than $60 million and took almost two years to complete the certification process. “This is an important step toward bringing competition to national security space […] More
Raytheon has shipped the initial hardware it built for the operational control technology of the U.S. Air Force’s global positioning system. The company said Thursday GPS OCX is designed to oversee the movements and capabilities of GPS satellites during ground, naval and aerial missions and safeguard the equipment from potential cyber threats. The Colorado-based Schriver […] More